Vienna’s carriage horses cope well with hot weather, according to an independent 2024 study by the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (Vetmed). Researchers examined 58 Fiaker horses in Vienna and found no signs of “typical heat-stress-related reduced general behavior.” Instead, the horses’ behavior was “unremarkable in all 764 observations,” lead researcher Theresia Licka’s team reported.
For the “non-invasive study,” conducted from January to December 2024, researchers collected manure samples, measured pulse and respiration rates, and recorded body temperature as well as stable-floor temperature. The project was carried out as part of the university’s own research and teaching activities without any external funding or commission. “We wanted to see whether new threshold values should be introduced,” said equine surgeon Licka. “That is not indicated by our study.”
Separately, the Austrian government and the City of Vienna have commissioned their own study on Fiaker horses’ heat exposure, also to be conducted at Vetmed. That project only began recently, ORF Vienna reported Tuesday.
However, the existing results already show a clear trend. “You can see that the horses have very good heat tolerance,” said sports medicine specialist Licka of Vetmed’s Equine Clinic. The study also found that “stress hormones were not significantly higher the day after being in the city.”
The findings are “important indicators of effective physiological cooling and thus good adaptation to heat,” the authors wrote in their summary. No signs of overexertion or heat stress were detected. Detailed data analysis will follow — for example, to assess which horses performed best over the year.
According to the Vienna Taxi Guild, which oversees the Fiaker trade, each horse may be used a maximum of 18 days per month, and carriage work is suspended when temperatures reach 35°C or higher.
Guild spokesperson Ursula Chytracek said the results confirmed the industry’s position. “The current scientific research study clearly proves: our horses are in excellent condition year-round, even in the summer heat,” she said in a press release. “We hope that those who repeatedly attack Fiaker operators without scientific basis or knowledge will acknowledge the study’s results and end their baseless accusations.”
